#generate their own Ur-Trees (there's already a few but they are all MUCH smaller and not readily recognized as the same thing)

[serpentface]

Do psychotropic drugs and/or ritual play a role in any of the blightseed cultures? A pretty broad question, lol

Yeah that’s a very broad question, the answer is about as much as it tends to play roles in real history. Alcohol is pretty ubiquitous (outside of cultures that abstain from intoxicants) and used for a variety of purposes, opioids are commonly used in some parts for pain relief or recreational purposes, stimulants (usually in mild, natural forms) are used to provide extra energy, and hallucinogens are most commonly used as part of a larger religious framework (rather than for recreational purposes). Any more elaborate answer kinda has to be case by case in a certain culture or part of the setting.

I'll just take this as an opportunity to talk about the one established sect that pretty much REVOLVES around psychoactive use. This is the Scholarly Order of the Root, which is a sort of mystery religion + elite community of scholars who currently occupy the Ur-Tree and its forest in the far southern Lowlands (southeast of Imperial Wardin, on the same land mass).

The Ur-Tree is the obligatory Huge Fucking Fantasy Tree (and its surrounding forest). It’s a mass of vegetation about a mile tall and almost as old as Plant Life Itself, its upper branches are primeval plants, which become more modern the nearer they get to the ground (and each 'level' holds tiny ecosystems, some containing descendants of LONG-extinct arthropods/other small animals). Its lowest branches and the surrounding forest are contemporary plant life, and all is connected and protected by an incomparably MASSIVE fungal mycelium network (which is itself a living god).

A lot of the Scholars' more secretive practices revolve around experimentation with substance use with the goal of expanding the Mind and transcending the body to fully connect to the Dreamlands, and they have a supply chain of traders and mercenaries called Rootrunners who traffic substances into the Lowlands. Most of their psychoactive use is in a very intentional capacity and not just like, for fun, but a LOT of them are just straight up addicted to cocaine (in the form of alchemically refined bruljenum, which is used for practical purposes of its stimulant effect during long hours of work).

All known psychoactives are desirable for experimentation (particularly hallucinogens), with each having properties that either allow expansion of the Mind, transcendence of the body, or outright divine communion. Their effects are logged in great detail and interpreted to form the basis of the Scholars' understanding of the natural world and reality itself.

The most important substance is Ur-Root, which is root matter from subterranean levels of the Ur-Tree that have both their own intrinsic psychoactive substances and a very, very high concentration of living god mycelium. The tree root contains DMT and the mycelium has its own wholly unique effects (being an actual living god). They alchemically refine it into a purer, more potent form, and use it to expand beyond the body and directly commune with the Giants, a group of entities they have identified as the only true gods.

An Ur-Root trip starts off with minor visual distortion, which turns into shifting fractals that slowly obscure the vision. Eventually the senses are entirely taken over by a 'tunnel' of rapidly shifting fractals and geometries. In a complete trip, the experiencer gets a sense that they have been pushed through a membrane and entered another realm, finding themselves in a distinct experiential Space.

At this point they may encounter entities which communicate to them in a language impossible to describe but wholly understood. These beings are understood to be the Giants, or at least aspects of the Giants that mortals are capable of comprehending (they often take familiar tutelary forms of the Mantis or the Snake, or appear resembling the same type of sophont that the experiencer is, all composed of ever-shifting geometries). The experiencer often feels a sense of unconditional and endless love from these beings, though the Giants may be more hostile and may appear in the form of the Trickster (usually a cultural figure regarded as malicious, be it an animal or otherwise) in a bad trip.

(^Up until this point, this has mostly just been a DMT 'breakthrough' experience ft. 'machine elves' and the like).

They are then removed from this space and returned to something that feels like the real world, but is nearly unrecognizable. They have a sense of rapidly moving through time, and will usually see 'the spires' towards the beginning, which just so happen to look like this:

(source + some context via Implication- the spires are exactly what this art is depicting)

The experiencer continues to move across an unfathomable amount of time, occasionally 'seeing' other such flashes of unfamiliar landscapes and creatures, and yet also being devoid of all their senses, the 'seeing' is pure, unfiltered experience. There is a sense of interconnectedness with all life, and that one has become the forest (or even Life) itself. The sense of time is wildly distorted, the trip lasts only about 5 minutes but feels like an eternity and is understood as literal hundreds of millions of years.

The experiencer has usually lost any remaining sense of Self and individual consciousness during this phase (in which case this time distortion is usually a neutral or even peaceful experience), but some retain a fraction of their identity, and find themselves trapped and conscious while experiencing what feels like eternity (which can be LIFE-CHANGINGLY distressing, even after the fact).

(^This latter part of the trip is the effects of the Ur-Tree fungus).

The trip ends with a sense of rushing through the ground and back up into one's body, at which point they will abruptly return to their senses and consciousness. The details are then immediately retrieved via interview and recorded in immense detail. The whole experience is understood as having been full comprehension of the Dreamlands, communion with the Giants, and then a tour through the act of creation.

This is done as part of the initiatory practice into the inner mystery-religion of the scholars, and as needed for study by high scholar-priests. It is not taken lightly, both as it is absolute communion with the gods and reality, and in that it can be a very, very difficult experience. People who have gone through this often walk away with a permanently shifted perspective, often in a positive and/or comforting way- a sense of interconnectedness with all life, a peace with the concept of death, seeing less of a point in individual ego and the concept of Self, and comfort in the sense of divine love they (may have) experienced. This heavily influences the philosophy of the Scholars and has had effects by proxy in the religious worldviews of the region.

Details of this experience are closely guarded, and initiates are given absolutely no prior knowledge and expectations for their trip. This is seen as a necessity- their naivety will allow for a true, unfiltered experience, and can be used to gauge whether they should or should not be accepted. Those that have a distinctly bad trip upon initiation may be assumed to have been 'rejected' by the giants and thus denied full priesthood, though this largely depends on How they interpret their distressing trip- those who identify this as a test and harsh lesson in a journey to enlightenment may be accepted (as this is how fully initiated scholar-priests interpret and handle their bad trips).

This inner priesthood is only a small fraction of the Scholarly Order, and its greater function is as a hub of education and repository of knowledge, and Scholar-trained doctors can provide some of the best medical care available in the setting ('best medical care in this setting' only means so much but it's pretty solid, relatively speaking). Only a chosen few Scholars ever get to commune with the Ur-Root, and most of the divine secrets revealed in the process are kept hidden (though they indirectly influence the politics and worldview of the entire order).

[skellebonez]

It's MY birthday and if as a gift from me to myself I get to go "hey @strange-lace and @ninja-knox-ur-sox-off you inspired this" then I GET TO DO THAT! You both know what you did with Spider Monkie AU. The fact that I was given VenomPeach by Lace and I am posting VenomPeach that I've been working on for a few days is just. Very amusing to me right now.

Spider Queen didn’t know if she was still an evil genius… or if she had just played herself like a 10 yuan kazoo.

What she did know was that she was on Mount Huaguao. In a forest. With Sun Wukong.

Who was very shirtless.

And pulling trees out of the ground with his sheer strength.

When she'd heard the odd noises that she now recognized as the creaking of tree roots being ripped up she was far too curious not to investigate. After all, this was Mount Huaguo. Whatever it was that was making that sound had to be something that Sun Wukong himself could handle.

She just hadn't expected it to be Sun Wukong making it.

Now she stood at the edge of what was clearly a carefully planned out clearing, an almost perfect circle with am opening to a rough but well loved dirt pathway that lead to the beach entrance that MK and his friends usually took to arrive.

"What’s all this?" She finally asked, stepping out from between the trees and slightly startling the Monkey King in the process. "It's not exactly time for spring cleaning."

"Queenie!" Wukong said, tossing the tree he was currently holding over his shoulder like it was as light as a twig. The motion made a shiver run down Spider Queen's spine, but she wasn't sure if that was because it was horrifying to revel in such sheer strength or just... incredible to behold (it was the later most certainly). "How are you feeling? Did your walk go alright?"

The question brought a smile to her face, the softness and earnestness in which he asked if making it equally soft on her lips. He was so... attentive to her. Not being overly intrusive in checking in on her or pushing her to take it easy with her healing burn scars or her weakened legs after everything that has happened, but also making sure to know if she ever needed anything whenever he could.

How she never realized how much care this immortal being was hiding behind all his bravado for all those centuries she may never know.

"It did, right up until I heard the strangest noise," she said, nodding her head down to the ground. "And it looks like I found my source. Again, what's all this?"

“UH, it’s for you?” Wukong said with a chuckle, gesturing to the field he’d made with his... arms. Very strong arms. All six of them.

Hence the lack of shirt. They don't really make those for people with six arms and any they made would just take far too long to put on.

Spider Queen could only look at him in confusion, one brow raised as she took in the flatter landscape before them.

“... thank you?” She attempted, sounding just as confused as she felt. “But I don’t know what I’d need an empty field for.”

“Well it isn’t exactly... you know, done yet,” the tall spider-monkey hybrid said with a laugh that was as bright as the sun shining off the metal on his outfit. “I built my house myself, actually. And it’s pretty small. Barely fits the two of us, really, with all the monkeys and I know you get lonely and I was thinking I could... build somewhere for your spider crew to actually stay?”

"What?" Spider Queen froze in her assessment of the field, head snapping back over and up at the other in surprise.

"The lab and stuff we have here already is great, but there's nowhere for them to stay and they just keep coming here every day and that takes a lot of time and fuel. And they can't stay at everyone else's places forever!" Wukong said with a laugh, somehow both light and bright and deep and hearty at the same time. "Well. Huntsman probably could stay at Sandy's forever, given the right incentive, but I know he misses spending as much time with you as he used to. Syntax is driving Pigsy and Tang up the wall with his experimenting, tough, and Goliath..."

The Monkey King paused himself, shrugging a bit.

"He really likes it here. And I'm pretty sure some of my court took a liking to him when he last visited. I can't say no to the guy, he's a sweetheart."

"Heh, I had trouble saying no to him too," Spider Queen admitted with a flush of her cheeks.

Truth be told... she missed her trio pretty bad some days. Ever since they'd lost their home in the lair, partly due to the Lady Bone Demon and partly due to bad memories that it brought up now, they'd been scattered a bit more than she would have liked. There was plenty of space on the island, but it wasn’t hers to give to them. It had been generous enough for Wukong to give her a place to stay and offer them free passage onto the island whenever they desired to see them, but he was right.

His house was far too small for the two of them and her trio.

Even if they now freed up some space by... sharing... sleeping quarters.

Spider Queen flushed a deeper color at that thought, still getting used to the fact that she and the man who had once been her greatest enemy now slept in the same room. On opposite sides of the same room but still.

She flushed deeper when she realized she had been staring at him and he was looking at her with an odd flush to his own cheeks.

"Well!" She cleared her throat, gesturing to the field as she stepped further into it to survey the Monkey King's hard work. "We should get planning then. Goliath is certain to want a little place to watch the nature outside, Huntsman will want someplace quiet and probably sound proof so he can sleep properly Syntax, and Syntax will want a smaller laboratory so he could take his work with him..."

Spider Queen trailed off, not noticing that as she started pacing that Wukong was watching her with a soft smile on his face.

That is, until she almost tripped on an upturned root and she found herself caught in all six of those arms she had been watching before she face planted into the ground.

"Maybe it's a bit too dangerous for pacing around as you think," he said as she was pulled against his chest. He was soft against her back, and despite the added hulk due to his transformation that softness was not all fur, voice rumbling through her as he held her protectively close. "Even if you look really cute when you do that..."

The last bit had been muttered so softly that she was certain that he hadn't realized she could hear him.

Before she could react she was airborne, carefully but skillfully tossed up on that she would land to sit on his shoulder with a hand held firmly around (around!) her waist to keep her safely seated.

"Besides, you can get a better vantage point from up here."

And indeed she could.

She could also hide the raging blush overtaking her face that almost made her stutter her words out as she went over the ideas she had for her family's new home.

Home...

She couldn't help but smile at the sound of that.

[lasquadrasfuckhouse]

not all statues are unearthed, many smaller ones have been found sitting in the middle of clearings or leaned against trees, and we do have them wash ashore from time to time. there are a lot of families in the area who are known for woodworking, glass blowing, blacksmithing, etc. and have been here for many generations, so the possibility of "who" is rather muddled. a lot of people have the means or know where to find the supplies—and have enough workspace to hide them if any new statues are being produced in town.

there was a teacher at the elementary school who only lived in the area for a year. she had no family here, did not grow up in the area, and didn't go into town much. she was also very beautiful—she had a few rumors following her around, mostly perpetuated by the children a few grades below. i was already in high school by then, so i didn't hear many specifics. from what i've gathered, it seems rumors of this nature were far more common when my parents were younger.

what has become more popular is the use of cursed statues to scare children out of the woods at night. many of my friends growing up were told that if they went into the woods after sundown, they would be turned to stone. it seemed to dip a little between the 90s and early 00s, but this has become a lot more common with parents now. i don't have the specifics on this either; i'm not sure if the forest is meant to turn people to stone or if something else is out there are catching people when they're alone. it may vary between households or family stories.

i never go searching more out of fear for the people who are most often out and about in the woods, but i was willing to make an exception for speedwagon. alas, he was gone before i had a day off to search. i may have been inclined to take him home with me had he still been there.

if you have any spooky stories of your own, i would love to hear them. has anything local to you inspired something specific from the werewolf pack AU?

— ⚓️

that's so fuckin wild ur neck of the woods sounds very liminal

but YES please be careful of going out in the woods, speedwagon would want u to be safe!!! let us know if u hear any updates about him 👀

hmmm good question... the overall vibe is definitely influenced by where i grew up, it's set in one of said weird little forest towns but because it's modern fantasy most of the spooky stuff is just like, normal lol. what i've been hammering out too is that the protagonist is a spirit medium, so there's lots of ghosty stuff but it's not framed in a scary way because the protagonist isn't scared by it y'know

but maybe i'll add in some specifics from my own forest experiences, like i was convinced that this wildly overgrown little patch behind my house would lead to somewhere else entirely and that the deer knew you. like, knew you. like your fuckin soul or some shit. little infrastructure also meant very few street lights so most roads would be pitch black at night (not to mention silent and empty) which, as a kid, scared me for both supernatural and mundane reasons. plus the hauntings, like it's not forest-specific for buildings close to graveyards to be haunted but i swearsies that the entire tone is different when it's ghosts from graveyards in the woods (also this town i grew up in had.... quite some space set aside for graves considering how small it was but maybe im overthinking it)

[tera-91]

It Doesn't Feel Like Christmas

Hey everyone! This has been stuck in my head since Christmas day. It originally started as a short (Maybe 1000 or less fluff fic) but turned into …. well quiet a bit more than that 😂 Hope you like it and as always feel free to comment 💜 I love feedback

Summary: Everyone has been busy and the holiday season snuck up on everyone, especially Virgil who feels guilty and wants to do something speical for his boyfriend

Pairings: Virgil/Patton (Moxiety) Roman/Logan (Logince)

Word count: 3780

Virgil woke up at 5 am like usual. This time though he wasn’t brought back to the land of the conscious by the sound of his blaring alarm clock. Patton had made sure that had been turned off before the pair had gone to bed the night before. A shifting figure beside him made him look down at the mop of strawberry blond hair. Patton always made sure the alarms were only turned on when the alarms owner had to be up the next morning. He took a deep breath and sighed at the smell of sweet pea and magnolia, the smell had always relaxed him. He didn’t know what he would do without Patton. He gently hugged the smaller figure closer to him. 

Virgil was almost back to sleep when he heard an alarm clock break through the silence of the house. He reached over and clicked the light button for Patton’s clock to make a soft blue light display the time. 6 am. Huh, it had to be Logan’s clock but the genius didn’t have to go to work. None of them did.

Reluctantly, Virgil gently pulled away from Patton as to not wake him. Once out of bed Virgil couldn’t stop the small heart palpitation as he watched Patton grab his pillow and turn over, but a smile soon followed as Patton simply snuggled into the pillow and back to a restful sleep. Virgil walked over to his desk chair where Patton had a habit of throwing Virgil’s hoody when he pulled it off in his sleep. He slipped on the, slightly ragged, article of clothing and made his way into the common area of the three-bedroom home.

As he thought, Logan was there, although slightly more disheveled than he was used to seeing the other man. He actually had on pajamas, that he was sure Roman bought him, for once. The main clue was that the pants had the Andromeda galaxy and Logan rarely bought anything that had the stars on it as it seemed nothing was ever accurate enough for him to buy on his own accord. He had on a Beauty and the Beast night shirt, that was definitely Roman’s as it was at least 2 sizes too big for him. He stood at the counter, half asleep with his hair sticking up in various places and glasses slightly askew, while he waited for the coffee to finish.

“Sorry Logan, Patton turned off the alarm clocks and I forgot to set the coffee pot. Although, I didn’t expect any of us to be up this early either.” Virgil said as he reached up into the cabinet and pulled out their coffee mugs. “Go ahead and sit down, Ill bring you yours as soon as it’s done.” Virgil was somewhat surprised when Logan did just that. While he waited Virgil reached for the sugar and grabbed the milk from the refrigerator as took just a few moments for the coffee machine to stop with a beep to signal it was done. Sugar and milk with a splash of coffee for him, while Logan’s was mostly coffee with just a little milk. He was careful not to spill any as he made his way to the living room where Logan sat. Logan still seemed out of it as he handed him the mug, which was understandable as he had been told multiple times of Logan’s poor sleeping habits by Roman.

Virgil sighed as he sat down next to the bespectacled man. It would be an hour or so before either Roman or Patton would wake up, so for the time being it was quiet, but peacefully so. As they both drank their coffee Virgil jarringly realized it was Christmas Eve as he took in the state of the living room. They had all been so busy with work yet Roman or Patton or both had found some time to find some vaguely Christmas colored fairy lights and string them along the edge of the ceiling. He felt somewhat sad. He knew how much both loved the holiday, probably as much as he loved Halloween. Since it was Christmas Eve there wouldn’t be enough time to order anything for anyone and he doubted they would be able to find even a small tree to decorate. Virgil sighed, his anxiety had begun to build up. He didn’t like it when Patton was sad or disappointed and he was almost certain he would be.

“Contemplating current state of events?” Logan asked suddenly which caused Virgil to jump. Before he could say anything, Logan continued “We have all been busy, more so than last year and the lack of decoration reflects that.” He gestured towards the general area of the room a tree would sit.

Virgil took another sip of his coffee. “Yeah, something like that” he said as he ran his fingers along the edge of his hoodie. “I haven’t had the time to get my brothers anything let alone Patton.” He reluctantly admitted.

“I don’t suppose many of us have had time to find anything.” Logan began. “Roman has been booked with back to back shows between the two theaters and Re-re” a sigh escaped both of them at the thought of the chaotic twin. “Re has been in his forge every time Roman looks for him, working on commissions for the holidays.”

“Patton has been making a lot of trips to and from the bakery” Virgil ran his hand through his hair. “I lost count of how many dozens of cookies and cupcakes he has made for all the shelters and homes.” a small chuckle escaped him “You know Patton, even the animal shelters get a batch of handmade treats.”

Logan hummed in agreement. “Unless one has gathered gifts during the year, I’m sure we all will understand if we just get to spend tomorrow together, sans boxes wrapped in colorful paper or bags and bows.”

Virgil shifted, somewhat uncomfortable at the thought that Patton may have found him something but nothing had ever caught his eye as a Christmas present for his boyfriend. Roman and Re, well they were easy. All he had to do was call Joan, they would go to the metal store for him and probably stop by one of the supermarkets and grab something Disney related for him since they knew he didn’t do well in crowds.

That’s just what he was going to do he quickly decided.

Virgil got up from the couch and quietly made his way back to his bedroom. As he walked up to the bedside table, he was glad he had decided to put carpet in over the summer. He couldn’t help but take a little time to admire Patton. It always amazed him, the contrast of a sleeping Patton vs awake Patton. He looked peaceful and not at all like once he woke up, he would be full of energy that he would practically be bouncing off the walls.

Virgil sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled his phone off the charger to text Joan.

V: Hey Joan would u mind going by the stores for me and grabbing Ro and Re presents for me?

J: What’cha thinking? V: Just about 10 pieces each of 15n20 and 1080 for Re, I’ll call Tyler and he can have it ready. For Ro, you no him basically anything Disney that catches ur eye. Especially anything Hercules.

J: Ah, got it! Ill get em and bring it by tonite when I come get Tals present from your place. Prewrapped ;)

V: Thanks Joan

J: NP V!

Virgil let out a quiet huff. He had his brothers taken care of now, well he still had to call Tyler but for the most part it was done. He just had to wait and make sure Re was out at his forge before he called. He turned and looked at the still sleeping Patton. It took everything in him not to just lay down next to him and card his fingers through the red tipped strawberry blond hair, the slight curls already making it stick up in hilariously weird angles. A moderately loud crash, which meant Roman was awake, caught his attention. Luckily it didn’t even phase Patton. He stood up with a huff, he still had to figure out what he was going to get Patton for tomorrow morning. He placed his phone in his hoodie pocket and made his way back out towards the living room. Maybe Roman could help him.

Virgil almost immediately turned around once he reached the end of the hallway. From were he stood he could clearly see the kitchen. A few eggs cracked and splattered on the tile floor while a bowl with pancake mix was tilted over on its side and mostly all over the counter with some of it on the floor. His eyes soon landed on Roman, or more accurately Roman’s mostly bare back which was only barely covered by a tank top that partially obscured the colorful tattoo located there, he wore the matching pants to the shirt he had seen Logan wearing earlier.

“I don’t know how you two always end up making a mess when you flirt.” Virgil said, startling Roman enough for him to step away from the counter revealing Logan up on the quarts top, his glasses pushed up onto the top of his head.

“Ah dear brother, you are just jealous.” Roman said with a confident smile as he turned and leaned back against the counter between Logan’s legs. Logan immediately leaned forward and draped himself over Roman’s shoulders, fixing his glasses in the process. “Besides you and Patton are just as guilty.” He said as he tilted his head back to look up at Logan

Virgil just rolled his eyes at the older man. “Uh huh, I am so jealous that you two make a mess. Yet the mess is usually preexisting as I find it adorable when Patton is baking not simply about to start making breakfast.” He said as he gestured to the floor.

“He is not wrong Roman. Patton is usually already covered in flour. I had yet to make any sort of mess prior to your appearance.” Logan said, smirk half hidden in Roman’s hair. The twin to pouted and tilted his head back. This caused the shorter one to laugh and give him a kiss.

Virgil shook his head before he made his way around the mess to refill his coffee. “Just clean up the mess when you’re done.” He said with a chuckle and made his way back to the living room.

“Will do bro!” he heard Roman call out.

He shook his head as he sat down on the couch. As different Ro and Re were there were still quite a few similarities between their actions that neither wanted to admit. Then it hit him, what he could do for Patton. He would wait until later when Patton would go with Logan to go see Roman’s Christmas eve performance. He’d make him his favorite treats.

Patton was next to wake up. He padded his way into the living room as he rubbed his eyes. Virgil could tell from the look on his face when he glanced into the kitchen that Logan and Roman were either still in there making out or they had left it a mess. Either way Patton’s face became red and he immediately dived for Virgil’s side. Virgil simply chuckled, placed his empty coffee cup down on the table and scooped Patton up. He shifted himself so that he was laying down on the couch with Patton’s head resting on his chest and he began to run his fingers through his hair. Patton wordlessly snuggled further into Virgil, both glad to have some time to themselves.

However, the peace didn’t last very long. “I am off to the forge my lovies and Merry B*%&^$mas too all and to all a good day!” Remus’s boisterous voice boomed through the house followed by the slamming of the front door.

Neither was sure if it was the loud voice or the slamming front door but both jumped. Virgil instinctively hugged Patton closer to him in an attempt to shield him from the nonexistent danger while Patton could feel Virgil’s fast heartbeat through his shirt. The taller one groaned and he placed his hand on his face. “I am not related to that one in the slightest.” Virgil sighed which caused Patton to giggle. Virgil waited a few moments to ensure Remus hadn’t forgotten anything before he reached into his pocket to get his phone to call Tyler.

“You’re such a thoughtful little brother.” Patton said as he reached under the hoodie once Virgil hung up the call. A large smile spread across his face at the deep red blush that appeared on Virgil’s pale skin. He loved it when his boyfriend became a blushing, cuddly mess.

“I-i just know how much he enjoys making things, though how someone that is a-all over the place like that ended up taking up blacksmithing which requires quite a bit of con-concentration.” Virgil slightly stammered.

“It’s simple my dear brother. I am the prince and he is the pauper that wants to be close to the palace, so he makes all the royal guards gear from armor to swords.” Roman appeared leaning over the couch looking at the two. Now both of them were red in the face with embarrassment at the position they were in.

“Roman that makes no sense whatsoever, that is not even how the story went, the pauper was not conically a black smith by trade. Also, you two are in fact related unlike the two boys in the book.” Logan made his presence known.

“Details, details my adorable calculator watch.” Roman said as he swept Logan up in his arms.

“Did you clean up the kitchen yet?” Patton asked as he struggled to keep from laughing as the two nearly ran to the kitchen.

The day went by rather lazily as no work needed to be done. Both Virgil and Patton enjoyed laying on the couch, the tv had been turned on at some point. Roman and Logan had joined them not long after they ran back to the kitchen, this time the pancakes had actually been made. They brought Virgil and Patton a plate and the four of them ate, bickering between Roman and Virgil being the main form of entertainment. 2 pm finally came, simultaneously too soon and not soon enough for Virgil. The three left and Vigil got to work.

He couldn’t remember exactly which was Patton’s favorite but luckily, he had enough ingredients to make both, since Patton kept the pantry stocked almost as if the home was a medium volume bakery. Which as much as Patton experimented it probably could be.

After looking through every drawer and every cabinet Virgil was able to gather most of the ingredients he needed. “Let’s see. Sugar, salt, vanilla, flour, chocolate chips, powdered sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, oil, water, milk. What am I missing?” Virgil asked himself as he looked over the items he had scattered across the counter. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the large butter dish. Of course! Patton always had room temperature butter for when he did his baking, Virgil had to stop himself from smacking himself in the head.

Virgil got to work making the cookies. It was a tedious process. He started out with the filling by mixing powdered sugar and soft cream cheese. He made the first batch of dough and portioned them out. He broke the portions in half as equally as possible before he rolled them out, placed some of the filling on one before he placed the other half on top, sealed the edges of the stuffed cookies and placed them on a sheet before storing them in the refrigerator they had out in the garage.

He returned to the kitchen, mixed together a small bowl of equal parts cinnamon and sugar, and turned the oven to preheat for the next set of cookies. He began mixing the butter and sugar, some of it went flying out as he turned on the mixer. He hoped that enough stayed in the bowl as he added the vanilla and water. Having learned his lesson, he turned the mixer down low as he added in the flour. Unfortunately, when the light ingredient hit the bowl it looked like a cloud with some landing in his hair. Virgil silently cursed under his breath. No wonder Patton always ended up covered in flour or something else when he baked.

The oven beeped, an indication that the over was up to temperature. Virgil quickly tore the chocolate chip bag open, sending about a third of the bag flying in the process. He poured the rest of the chips into the dough, shakily he mixed it up and portioned them out before putting them on a sheet and in the oven.

As he waited for the cookies to bake Virgil set to cleaning the giant mess he made in the kitchen. He had just barely finished when the timer beeped. “Ugh how does Patton do this? I haven’t even gotten the powdered sugar out yet.” Virgil said as his anxiety began to increase. He took a deep breath, grabbed the potholders and took the cookies out of the oven. He carefully lowered the ovens temperature for the first batch of cookies before he turned around and grabbed a large shallow bowl, cooling rack and the bag of powdered sugar.

With shaky hands Virgil re-opened the powdered sugar, which of course had to explode out of the bag and dust the previously clean stone countertop, then poured some into the shallow bowl. He groaned; this was just impossible. Quickly, so not to burn his fingers, Virgil picked up a few of the cookies and rolled them in the powdered sugar before placing them on the cooling rack. Once he was done with that batch of cookies Virgil went to the garage for the first batch of cookies. He took each cookie and rolled them in the cinnamon sugar he made earlier before he placed them back on the sheet and slid it into the cooler oven.

As he set to work once again cleaning the kitchen, he didn’t hear the garage door open. “Virge?” Patton’s voice made Virgil stand ramrod straight. ‘No Patton can’t be home already’ Virgil thought. A hand on his shoulder and the timer going off simultaneously, made Virgil jump almost out of his skin.

“Pat? Babe what are you doing here?” Virgil asked practically losing control of his breathing as he quickly spun around and pulled the last batch of cookies and set them on top of the counter before he turned the oven off. He didn’t want to burn the cookies, after all they were for Patton. He knew he couldn’t hide what they were from him but that didn’t stop him from trying to block Patton’s view of them.

Patton simply giggled and pulled Virgil away from the hot appliance. “Well Remus showed up with you know who. Once the performance was over the four of them wanted to go and get something to eat to celebrate a wonderful performance.” Patton reached up and to shake the mixture of flour and powdered sugar from Virgil’s hair. “I took Roman’s car while they all piled in Remus’ I knew you had already been alone for a while. Also, I was hoping to get some alone time with you.” Patton said with a rare, somewhat smug, look before he pushed the taller one up against the wooded cabinets and cool stone counter before he pulled Virgil down for a kiss.

Virgil almost, almost, whined when the other pulled away. He couldn’t help the blush that spread across his face, neither of them was particularly forward when it came to affection, but Virgil couldn’t help how much he liked it when Patton would become bolder when the two of them were alone.

“What are you up to Virge? I come home and you look like an absolute ghost with all the flour and powdered sugar on you.” Patton smiled as he rubbed Virgil’s cheek that was also smudged with powdered sugar.

“Well, I um – I hadn’t been able to find you anything for Christmas tomorrow, so I thought.” Virgil said as he glanced over at the sheet full of cookies. “I thought I would make you some of your favorites, but it seems that I can’t do any of it right.” Virgil sighed as he ran his thumbs along Pattons hips. “I couldn’t hide them from you, and I don’t think I did it right. The first batch doesn’t look right and this one looks under done.”

Patton couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up, he quickly covered his mouth with his hand. “Oh Virge.” He started as he pulled back to peak around him. “Silly you did just fine.”

“Babe those don’t look anything like yours and the ones I just pulled out look like they’d fall apart as soon as you picked them up.” Virgil protested as the other pulled away slightly. “Pat? You ok? Your hand was kind of cold.” Virgil said as he reached up and grabbed one of Patton’s still chilled hands.

Patton quickly intertwined his fingers with Virgil’s and stuck their hands in the hoodie pocket so he could steal some of the warmth the oversize hoodie provided. “I’m fine Virgil, it was just cold outside and I forgot my gloves.” He said as he buried his face in his boyfriend’s chest. “You did great, the first ones just need another coat of powdered sugar and the others just need a few minutes to firm up as they cool down. You did just fine.” Patton said as he used his other hand and once again pulled Vigil down for a comforting kiss. Patton was always mesmerized how his lips were always so soft. Patton pulled back slightly “What made you do this?” Patton asked softly, afraid to break the moment.

Virgil leaned down so their foreheads touched. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed if it doesn’t feel like Christmas tomorrow.” Virgil practically whispered.

“How could I possibly be disappointed when I’m with you, everyday feels like Christmas.” Patton said. At his words it felt like a wave washed over Virgil. He leaned down and tenderly kissed the shorter one. Tomorrow would certainly feel like Christmas even if it was just filled with fairy lights and cookies. 

@tinkslittlebelle  @teacupfulofstarshine @random-name-here @kindly-falling @xx-fandom-potato-xx @sylveon-lover-crazyfangirl1415 @sandersfander1820 @downrightdanny @i-do-not-dislike-fudge @not-so-innocent-bi-sander @princeanxious @sammys-ghostz @nope-not-more @moltengoldenstardust @coolerthan-a-vintagecassette @j-d-lightful @could-always-be-gayer-2 @altruistic-skittles @c4t1l1n4 @dutifullystrangequeerdom @i-read-by-lamp @thatcacidork @bigfirecreator @badluckkaren @eternal-optimists-world

[toxiccaves]

♻️What can I do about Global Warming?♻️

Hey guys, so global warming is scary stuff and i feel bad reblogging all these bad posts without spreading news on what we can do. Now theres plenty of resources out there for further reading but ill try to save you some time by compiling this post! But sorry i cant save time on how lengthy this post is. Sorry fam.

So, I’m just gonna list off some reminders about things that have an impact for a better environment! Because there is stuff we can do, and we have 12 years to do it, so let’s get on it! TLDR? Skip to the bottom! So here’s some things we can change:

Unplug things when not in use; is unplugging a hassle? Get power strips so you can turn the whole strip on and off when not in use! Apparently there are phone controlled power strips as well.

Invest in energy saving appliances! (Washers that only use as much water as needed, shower head controls, energy saving lightbulbs etc.)

Don’t full blast the water you use if you don’t need that much pressure. (ie: brushing your teeth or washing ur hands? You can put the faucet on with a lighter water flow, this saves water!)

Next time you need a new car, try to look out for electric cars. Automobiles are the second worst pollutant behind the food industry, and electric cars would make a huge difference. My friend’s mom has one and it’s a very nice car, and huge. They’re not all the silly tiny cars you see people make fun of all the time on TV.

New car’s and finding even used electric cars can still be hard in this year though, so carpooling, using public transit, or even biking when possible has a huge impact.

As for the food industry, try to adopt a plant based diet. This can be good for you, but it’s good for the environment because the farming and fishing industries are really hurting the atmosphere. You don’t need to go full vegan or vegitarian though, you can opt instead for grass fed meat. (Cows being fed wheat isn’t in their diet, so they make more gas, methane, at such a large rate with how big the food industry is, and it is really cutting into the atmosphere.) Better yet, you could look into farmer’s markets and shopping local, as they are a lot smaller, but also tend to give their animals proper diets.

Another thing you can do for food is grow your own veggies/get your own animals! A lot of pollution is put out transporting food, so the more you can get from your backyard, the better, as well as cheaper! Pot a few veggies on your porch each summer, even if it’s only a few, every bit counts.

On the topic of growing stuff, grow some trees! More trees on the earth, the more they filter the air. You may even have communities nearby that go around planting trees; try searching and volunteering for one if you got the time.

Waste less food, only buy as much as you’ll eat. (food decomposing/molding releases methane.)

Get a tap water filter and reusable water bottle to drink tap! This will save you SO much money on water. Plus, water bottles are one of the worst things that take up landfills.

Recycle as much as possible, and not only your trash, but by making less trash. Bring things to thrift/buy things from thrift. Use reusable grocery bags. 

As well as using your own water bottle with your tap, you can bring your own mugs to coffee shops! Starbucks discounts 10 cents per drink, and dunkin donut’s does a discount too! You can look up your favorite coffee shop or ask if they offer this, though I’m sure they do! (Dunks is also going green by phasing out the foam cups for paper cups!)

Allrighty. Well, that’s a lot of fun stuff we can do day to day in our personal lives, but we’ve all heard this before in school about how its good for the environment, granted now, we really should adopt this widespread in the next 12 years, but what we also really need to do is contact our representatives/congress to make a change. Why this was made a politcal issue as to whether it is believed in or not is ridiculous as it is proven science over years of study, but there are a lot of things we could push for, such as putting a price on emissions, cap and trade systems, or general overall systematic changes over food or fossil fuel industries, and just making change a priority. Some of these practices have been put to work in other countries, and they work! Do some research and let our representatives know that it is a priority to us.

We can also contact companies directly to encourage them to change their practices for a greener world. As we saw dunkin donut’s is already on it, and companies often DO listen to customer feedback. Heck, I get free coupons every time I leave feedback, so it’s worth a shot if enough consumers show interest. They could change the diets they feed their meat, ask to change their packaging, etc. 

We have a voice, so we should use it if we want to see change. We need to show that this is public interest so we can see some change. Do some research on your own, look to environmental communities, and try to ask for change. I’d like to have a habitable world in my future, hopefully everyone else does too.

At the very least, staying educated on this issue can make a difference too. Do what you can! 

For a little further reading: BBC has plenty of articles, and here’s some info on carbon pricing

[ritingsandwramblings]

"Are You High?" "No I'm Connor" (tree bros)

@idekyimherebutok requested: “if ur still doing the prompt thing then 160 tree bros???”

I’m doing it for as long as people request it!! Even if it’s been like a year since I’ve reblogged it, feel free to send me a request from any prompt number post thing!!! Here’s a cute little fluffy tree bros to get away from the angst of yesterday and next week 😊

Plot: 160: “Do you think you could teach me that?”

Evan wants to help Connor and himself so he takes interest in what helps his boyfriend calm down. Or alternatively, Connor helps Evan get high for the first time.

Warnings: swearing, drug use, verbal abuse, shitty writing about being high and blunts in general bc I'm a goody goody™ who the closest I've gotten to being high is facetiming with s friend who told me I should come over, get high, and give him a handjob so yeah :)

(Requester, please feel free to send me another ask with this prompt if you aren’t comfortable with drug use. It’s perfectly fine and okay if you aren’t and I really won’t mind, I actually might write another fic with this prompt but a different ‘thing being taught’ anyway because I had a cute nail painting idea 😊)

okaynowimdonerambling

••••••

“I’ll fucking end your fucking life, Zoe, don’t you fucking test me!” Connor yelled through his door, which he had slammed just seconds before. His sister, the victim of his verbal attacks, slammed her door as well, sitting on her bed to practice her guitar for the jazz band concert next week. Connor ran his fingers through his messy, dark curls, deciding he couldn’t deal with this bullshit anymore. He flopped to the ground, looking through the bottom drawer of his bedside table, retrieving the small tin box he was looking for. He pulled it out, feeling better already.

He knew Evan wouldn’t want him to smoke, but it was midnight and Connor already wasn’t thinking too straight, and didn’t want to wake him probably sleeping boyfriend up by calling him or crawling through his window. He recalls the last time he crawled through late at night unexpectedly, and how that happened to be the one night Heidi was home from work at a decent hour, as he unlocks the box and grabs a lighter and already rolled blunt. Needless to say, he calls before he climbs through the window now. Pinching the unlit end of the blunt, he brought it to his pale lips, feeling his anger and stress float away with the smoke he exhaled. He sighed happily, already feeling much better and forgetting about what it was that Zoe had done to piss him off this time.

He’d already finished one entire blunt and was as high as a kite. Not being able to control his thoughts, and not knowing it was nearing one in the morning, he pulled out his phone, tapping a few times until he had face timed Evan. It rung once, twice, and a third time before a groggy looking Evan picked up, the duvet was covering his torso but his bare shoulders could still be seen.

“Con? It’s like 1 A.M., mwhat’s wrong?” Evan asked, his voice croaking from having just been woken up.

“Nothings wrong, I just wanted to see my pretty boyfriend’s'all,” Connor replied, his words mixing together slightly and giggling when Evans blush could be seen even in the dark bedroom.

Evan sat up and turned his bedside light on, wincing as his eyes adjusted to the light, “Are you high right now?”

“No I’m Connor,” he giggled back. Evan sighed, setting the phone down and getting up to find a shirt and shoes, deciding on one of Connors hoodies he’d 'borrowed’ and his usual sneakers.

He picked up his phone again, “I’m coming over, you need a babysitter when you’re high, there’s no telling what trouble you’ll get into.” Evan sighed.

“Yay, boyfriends coming over!” Connor cheered, probably a little too loud. Evan winced at his volume slightly.

“Shhh, what if your parents or Zoe hears you?” Evan tried shushing Connor.

“Parents aren’t home, and Zoe’s too bitchy to hear me anyway,” Connor grumbled, giggling a bit slightly. Evan had seen Connor high on a few occasions, the first time being the weirdest for him. He’d never seen Connor so <i> giggly </i>. Sure, he was cuddly when he was high, more so than when he wasn’t, and Evan really liked that, but it was so weird to see him boyfriend giggle so much. Usually he either laughed, or didn’t, there was never any in between small giggles.

~~~~

Evan pulled the key from the potted plant and unlocked the Murphy’s front door as quietly as he could, putting the key back and locking the door when he was inside. He tip-toed up to Connors room. It was obvious it was Connors, not just by the crack in the door and small posters littering it, but by the Nirvana blaring from inside. Connor was a pretty big Nirvana fan, but high Connor was the biggest Nirvana fan. He opened the door slowly, hoping that his boyfriend would at least be wearing clothes this time, and was relieved to see he was wearing black sweatpants at least. Connor turned his head, seeing Evan enter his room and carefully close the door behind him, before sitting up on his bed and going over to him, pulling him into a big hug. Evan gasped as Connor pulled him to his chest, his arms held down by Connors bear hug.

“Heyyyyy, Evvvvvvv,” Connor giggled out. Evan held back a giggle, trying to not encourage Connor.

“Hey, Connor.”

“Hey, Evan,” Connor said, mocking Evan by putting on a grumpy expression, “Why’re you so fucking serious, babe, just chill out.” He giggled again, laying back down on his bed and resting his arms under his head.

Evan blushed, liking the fact that high Connor was extra flirty and always called him dumb pet names. He grabbed the water bottle on Connors bedside table, “Here, sober up, please?”

“Nah, fuck that, I’d rather stay fucking lit,” Connor swatted the bottle away from Evans hands, “besides, I’m like totally ninety percent sure that that water bottle is just straight vodka,” Connor giggled again. Evan sighed, giving up and deciding he better just sit and watch to make sure Connor didn’t hurt himself. He sat on Connors bed, cross legged, deciding Connor was too high to bother listening to him no matter how hard he tried to get him to sober up. He stared thoughtfully at his boyfriend, as he attempted to put his hair into a messy bun, and wondered what he felt like high. He knew that he obviously had less control of his thoughts and actions, but he was curious as to how freeing and calming it really felt. Did it really help Connor deal with his anger problems and facing his family?

~~~~

It had been an hour and Connor was still wide awake, and decided he wasn’t as high as he was. He got off the bed to roll another blunt, Evan watching him carefully as he did so.

<i> Screw it </i>, Evan decided, <i> maybe it does help him feel better, maybe it’ll help me . He fiddled with the hem of Connors hoodie, before speaking up.

“Do you think you could, uh, you could teach me that?” Evan pointed hesitantly at the blunt. Connor looked up, a little bit excited, but also worried. He was never worried about his own health and safety when he smoked, but he didn’t want to risk putting his boyfriend in harm.

“Are you sure?” He asked, seeking serious for the first time all night. Evan nodded.

“I mean if you don’t want to, uh, don’t want to show me its fine it was just a thought-” Connor shit him up with a peck on the lips, pulling away and smiling at the blushing boy.

“If you’re sure you’re okay with this, then I’ll show you,” Connor went back to grab the tin box and set it on his bed, taking out the weed and things he needed to make the blunt, showing Evan step by step how to roll it. When he was done, Evan tried it, surprised at how easy it actually was.

“Do you wanna try to smoke it?” Connor asked hesitantly, not really sure how he felt about his boyfriend smoking.

“Yeah, I mean, uh, sure, I, uh, I guess,” Evan replied, fiddling with the hem of Connors hoodie again as he thought again about how it might feel.

“Okay, do this,” Connor showed Evan how to light the blunt, Evan following his directions. Connor then took Evans hands and set them on the blunt, moving it to his lips, “Now, inhale slowly, and exhale.” Evan did so, exhaling and feeling stress and anxiety he didn’t know he held being lifted away. He sighed as he exhaled, feeling surprisingly calm. He liked it, not enough that he would do this often, but enough that he thought about enjoying getting high with his boyfriend sometimes, both of them feeling calm and happy without having to worry about anything.

Connor looked at his boyfriend as he took another hit, Evan not noticing that Connor didn’t light and wasn’t smoking his own blunt. He had sobered up slightly and was watching his boyfriend carefully. Connor didn’t want to risk him getting high and Evan hurting himself while high because Connor couldn’t protect him.

After a while the blunt was gone, the room was considerably more smoky, and Evans eyes were very red and bloodshot. Connor admired how calm his boyfriend looked and wished he could give him this feeling all the time, taking note of how he fiddled with the string of his hoodie, but not in a nervous way. He fiddled with them happily and playfully as he hummed along to the song playing, Connor chuckling because he knew for a fact Evan had no idea what song it was. Connor laid back on the bed, after he put the tin back in his drawer, and pulled Evan down to lay next to him, the smaller boy breathing quietly as he laid his head on Connors bare chest.

He was probably the calmest person while high that Connor had ever seen. Evan wasn’t as giggly or funny as Connor was when he was high, although Connor noticed he was definitely more cuddly, but he enjoyed it. Evan was more quiet and thoughtful it seemed. Conor looked down and studied Evans closed eyes as he began to drift asleep. He smiled, kissing his messy blond hair and mumbling an 'I love you’ before turning to shit the light off, hearing Evan mumble one in return.

[bluethepaladin]

so im like super excited to meet the aliens in ur next chap of when i dream it happens in blue. ur like so smart in science and stuff. what about the science of aliens? is that a thing? how do u make urs? do u know anything about it?

Thank you, dear anon, for this ask about life. Also thank you for reading when I dream it happens in blue. I’ve gotten overwhelming support on this fic and I am just blown away by how much you all love it.  I was honestly waiting for an ask like this because I love aliens and creating alien societies. Also, thank you for being patient with me as I get around to answering these asks.

Basics of Life

So first of all, when considering life in any discussion, I am going to make the fundamental assumption that advanced life-forms must either evolve from more primitive life forms, or they must be created by other advanced organisms that already did so. Therefore you can’t have humans or alien counterparts on some other planet without a whole web of interdependent plants and animals that surround them, and a whole chain of ancestors that led from a raw plant to an ecosystem. There might be a hypothetical exception to this rule, maybe on a planet where one life-form has wiped out all other natural life forms, but how that happens is up to your creative exploits.

When we think about life and how it develops, we have to draw from the only example we know of where it happened, aka. Earth. And as we have no eyewitness accounts for how this happened we are again forced to heavily rely on inferences and experiments that have been widely regarded as accurate within the scientific community.

But what’s even worse for us writers is that we have no actual scientific evidence of how typical what happened on Earth actually is! But since it’s all we have we just gotta work with it. But keep this in mind! (It’s actually pretty cool to think about, too) At first glance, it seems like our little planet offers an enormous range of life-forms all so obviously different that one might suspect them of representing a large sample of independent instances. Earthly life-forms include protius bacteria, komodo dragons, octopus, cacti, antelope, hummingbirds, coral reefs, orcas, redwood trees, and us–just to name a very, very few. Seems pretty diverse, right? Especially when you consider there are lichens that grow in the frigid wastelands of Antarctica, and fish living in hot springs that would cook a regular fish. If we take into account all flora and fauna that have ever existed, well that includes things like the stegosaurus, ammonoidea, mammoths, and giant dragonflies, the sample gets even bigger. Surely, surely this is a diverse lot, but if we look at them at a fundamental level, they are all so similar they are in all likelihood products of a single biogenesis. What scientists mean when they say this, is that all terrestrial life is, in a real and important sense, just one example with many variations on a basic theme. 

While that may seem like an extreme statement, there’s a great deal of scientific evidence to support it, a lot of which has just been discovered in the last few decades. It’s not easy to define life, especially with only our terrestrial examples to work with. But as far as we can tell, all life, no matter what form it takes, has these things in common:

they are highly organized structures

take in energy from their surroundings and use it to maintain their structure and organization

have the ability to reproduce, i.e. to make exact working copies of themselves (more or less).

Each of these statements is subject to some qualifications and clarification, of course (not every individual actually uses the ability to reproduce, and the offspring of sexually reproducing species are almost never identical to their parents) but even taking this into consideration, these are all characteristics that we expect of any life form on Earth.

Terrestrial organisms acquire energy they need to maintain themselves in a variety of different ways. Until recently, we assumed that all living beings got their energy from the sun, whether directly or indirectly. Green plants use sunlight directly, combining it with water, minerals, and carbon dioxide as raw materials which in turn makes carbohydrates and fives off oxygen. They then store that energy in their own tissues. Fungi or animals get their energy from eating those tissues and metabolizing the carbohydrates and giving off carbon dioxide that can then be reused by plants. But then we have another level, the carnivores, who eat the animals that eat the plants. There’s also smaller organisms who eventually recycle the bodies of other dead organisms into the soil as nutrients for the plants. This is the most elementary summary of the science of ecology, and I highly recommend reading more about it to make your aliens more accurate! From this we know that no organism exists in isolation, but all organisms interact to maintain cycles of chemical reactions repeating, with chemicals being reused repeatedly and energy being the only substance added from outside sources.

The essential input, as we now know, is energy, not necessarily solar energy. As we discovered, we can no longer say, even on Earth, that the sun is at the center of all energy cycles. Recent deep ocean explorations have discovered whole ecosystems based on chemical synthesis on the ocean floor, much too deep for the sun’s reach. The food chain in this ecosystem starts with microorganisms that metabolize directly hydrogen sulfide and minerals in the warm water that seeps up through vents from Earth’s interior.

The CHON System

All terrestrial life, from the tiniest bacteria to human beings is based on the same fundamental biochemical architecture. It uses the same DNA to make the same protein building blocks: the diversity comes in on how they’re arranged. The building blocks of life on earth is largely based in four fundamental elements: carbon ©, hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), and nitrogen (N), where the acronym CHON comes from. A few other elements are also vital in specific applications. Phosphorus is fundamental to the basic energy transfer reactions used in living cells. Sulfur is also crucial to some aspects of terrestrial life.

Carbon is the backbone of the CHON system. It is the only element that makes arbitrarily complex linkages to itself and because of this it can build up extremely complex molecules. Another major component to life on Earth is liquid water. Life in general would probably require some solvent that all its magnitude of chemical reactions can take place in. Water works well because it’s made of common elements–hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen actually makes up most of the universe. Of the heavier elements, oxygen is more common but in the grand scale of the universe is much more rare than hydrogen, due to the fact that it’s most common isotope is exceptionally stable. Overall, this means that water is actually one of the most abundant substances in the entire universe!

But water has some unusual properties too. It has a high boiling point and it’s temperature range means that it has a very large range in which it stays liquid. This is convenient when world building because planets vary in temperature form place to place. Water is also a near-universal solvent. It can dissolve virtually anything to at least some degree. A solvent is necessary for biochemical reactions, and this makes water a great contender by making it easy to move things around–like food and oxygen and waste products–but it also provides a medium in which the basic building blocks of life can move around.

Probably one of the more interesting things about water is that it expands when it freezes. This is extremely unusual: most liquids are less dense than the solids they melt from. (There are also different forms of ice. Ice I occurs on Earth, the normal stuff you find in your freezer and in glaciers and is the only kind less dense than water. But Ice II and Ice III can form under immense pressure and most likely exist in icy worlds in other parts of the universe). This property of Ice I is very important for Earth’s climate regulation. 

Other Possibilities

We are now venturing into the world of hypotheticals. All of the examples of planets I give are mostly derived from science fiction I’ve read or watched, and are all plausible, even if we can’t identify any specific examples in our small solar system.

Hydrogen Fluoride WorldIf we base a planet on the halogens, or the elements that range from fluorine to astatine (group 17), then there are some comparisons to be made between a potential oxygen/water world. Free fluorine could act as a sort of oxygen element and hydrogen fluoride (HF) would make a substitute for water. By this I meant that it would form lakes and oceans and be the solvent in which the biochemical reactions took place. In a system such as this, plant life would release free fluorine during photosynthesis, while animals would breathe in fluoride instead of oxygen. 

There would be some technicalities in using such a world–factors come into play such as the fact that fluoride is comparatively a much rarer element, and the fact that fluoride is a much more reactive element which would make it hard to accumulate in the atmosphere, but it’s up to you how you’d like to solve these problems, if you acknowledge them at all. 

Ammonia WorldSince water is such a good solvent for biochemical reactions, it’s been an object of science fiction writers’ obsession to try and find an alternative. One possible is liquid ammonia. Ammonia is also made from common elements–nitrogen and hydrogen–so it’s common in the universe. Ammonia is a great solvent and it also has a large temperature range where it remains liquid and has a high boiling point. One major difference is that ammonia ice sinks, so ice would sink to the bottom of the ocean. Although, that could still technically work as a climate regulator: the ice at the bottom of the ocean would be extremely hard to melt and help cool the atmosphere. 

Because of scientific factors like the greenhouse effect causing a thin atmosphere, and the fact that such a world would have to be frozen to be sustainable that it would be near impossible to extract ore from the rocks to make metal, would likely mean this type of planet would never get past a Stone Age without outside influences. 

Sulfur Dioxide SeaAn additional candidate as an alternative to water and has the fun bonus of containing sulfur is the idea of the sulfur dioxide sea. In our solar system, there’s actually a planet in our system that has a sulfur dioxide sea. Jupiter’s moon Io, however is covered in ice and is therefore unlikely to contain life (but there’s speculation about beneath the surface, but I digress).

Like water and ammonia, sulfur dioxide has a long liquid range and a relatively high boiling point, although it is important to note that the atmospheric pressure would have to be at least 3x that of Earth’s in order to maintain it in liquid form without boiling at a reasonable temperature. Sulfur dioxide ice also sinks. 

An interesting factor of such a planet is that there would be no oxygen in the atmosphere, otherwise sulfur trioxide would form, which is solid at room temperature. This means that the sulfur dioxide sea would likely lap against shores of pure sulfur and the atmosphere would be largely made up of nitrogen and interestingly enough–sulfur dioxide! Yeah, the compound that makes up the oceans would also make up a large part of the atmosphere! Higher life forms would have an interesting development because fire would be impossible on such a world.

Notes:

Thanks for the ask! I love thinking about aliens and creating them from the ground up. When you do it that way, you start to think how the environment and the physical aspects of the occupying planet actually can affect the aliens and their culture. I hoped this helped you! Don’t forget, you are free to tag me in or send links to me of your stories and fics so I can check out the cool sci fi aspects! Also, my askbox is always open. You can find more science answers under the tag #blue answers.

love, Blue